For those who get running water at the turn of a knob in their houses, this may sound somewhat outlandish, even bizarre. Hundreds of young men are being forced to lead a bachelor's life and hundreds of young girls prefer being "sold" outside the state rather than marry in their own state and the villain in this situation is water. Marriages are being cancelled, postponed and called-off at the last minute in the Bundelkhand region due to paucity of water.

The Union Agriculture Ministry has worked out a package for revival of the farm sector in the drought-hit Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the lines of the Rehabilitation Package for Vidarbha and other drought-prone districts where farmers' suicides were high. Among other measures for relief, the Bundelkhand package suggests a debt relief for farmers in the region. It calls for contingency cropping, diversification and cross-breeding for local cattle that had lost fertility due to lack of minerals and green fodder.

Eighty-nine people were killed in the high-velocity thunderstorm that ripped across Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. The deaths came as winds blew at 80 km an hour uprooting trees and triggering wall collapse and lightning ignited fires. The thunderstorm caused a blackout in several parts of the State as power lines snapped. Trains services were also affected. Power, rail services restored

At least 124 persons were killed in various accidents across Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday night when a duststorm, accompanied by a short spell of rain, lashed through several parts of the state, according to official sources.

in the second week of April, 200-odd Van Gujjar families were stranded in Uttarakhand after the state forest department barred them from entering their summer homes. The Van Gujjars move to

UP, Maharashtra, Gujarat And Bihar In Line Of Fire NREGA laggards could face an intrusive Centre as it emerges that a handful of states are pulling down the national average. Rural development ministry is contemplating "monthly monitoring' for Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar, after a performance review found that these states were falling short of their potential for job guarantee scheme. It would be an embarrassment for the four states as the RD ministry holds a quarterly NREGA monitoring for all. The officer-incharge from state comes for discussions with his

Farmers in Eastern Uttar Pradesh are increasingly choosing costlier mechanical ways of farming over less-expensive manual ways. Why? "Mechanical harvesting is easy and less time taking. At main harvesting time it's become very tough to get the labourers at right time. And if the harvesting process will get late it can harm our crops due to hailstorm and heavy rains. Due to these factors big and even small and marginal farmers are also moving towards mechanical harvesting" said a farmer living in eastern part of UP, Gyan Chand.

A sharp fall in the water level of the Ganga downstream from Narora in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh has fuelled fears of the grand old river being reduced to a trickle at the holy Sangam in Allahabad. The fall in the level of the river, considered the lifeline of the State since ancient times, has set alarm bells ringing. The state of the river in Varanasi is no better than in Allahabad.

In spite of vaccinations, the breaking out of chicken pox has rung alarm bells in most districts of UP. The situation is so serious that in the first four months of the year, some 38 people have lost their lives to the scourge with 700 patients presently under treatment in the state. Medical authorities blame the frequent changes in weather for the increasing incidence of chicken pox.